Choice
by Keyez91
Summary: Set after Neverland. Will Emma finally chose between Hook and Neal? A short cutey-fluffy CSwan One shot.


**Sorry, it's late here, I'm sleepy. Studying has finally gotten to me and fried my brain I'm afraid, so if this doesn't make much sense I apologize. Some sexual references here, so beware, I warned you ;) **

It's late, she's sipping her hot cocoa while sitting on the kitchen isle as she usually does when she's alone at home. Henry is spending the weekend at Regina's and her parents are playing lovebirds somewhere around Maine. The cinnamon she put on top of all that whipped cream smells like heaven and Christmas and home. Who cares, if nobody sees it then the calories don't add up, that's her phylosophy... The house feels so empty without Henry and Mary Margaret and David and, yes Hook too, even if she wouldn't admit it out loud, ever since they came back he'd become a constant presence in her house, always there for their movie-nights, and in her life, too and... A knock on the door brings her out of her reverie "Who could it be at this hour?" she asks herself.

"Emma, open up, it's me"

She's surprised - and just a little disappointed- to find Neal on the other side of the threshold.

"Hey! What's up?"

"Nothing" he answers "just passing by, saw the lights on and thought I could just stop and say uhm, well hi".

"Oooohk, thanks and hi to you too. Would you like a cup of hot cocoa?"

"Sure, why not?"

She lets him in and goes to make him his hot cocoa. They chat, watch tv, laugh and joke, it's nice, comforting even, till they realize it's getting late, so she walks him to the door.

"Thaks for the cocoa Ems, and the company see you around... I guess?"

"Sure, no problem, it was nice"

"Yeah, we totally should do it more often"

"Yeah, why not?!"

Then the unpredictable, unexplicable unbelievable -well, maybe not really seeing he told he still wants to fight for her- anyway, it happens: one moment they're giving each other a friendly, at least on her part, hug, the next he's kissing her and she can't do anything to stop him. She would also be a liar to say that she didn't respond at all.

But surely after a moment of weakness she gets her bearings back and gently pushes him away. He just smiles at her, walks down the stairs and home.

He can't believe his eyes, this can't be happening: Bae, the Crocodile's son, Neal or whatever his name is over here, and Emma kissing. He wouldn't admit it to anyone, but in this very same moment he feels like a moron. The woman he opened his heart to, the woman who brought the real Killian, that long-forgotten and buried part of him, back to the surface, the one who swore she would never go back with her son's dad, the man who'd hurt her so much it almost destroyed her, was bloody kissing said man on her doorstep. And she seemed to like it too.

"Bloody hell" he muttered. He turned on his heels and went back to his ship, popcorns, booze, heart on his sleeve and all. Yes, Captain Hook, was bringing booze and popcorns to the Swan girl, he wanted to cheer her up with one of their movie nigths, as he knew damn well she always missed Henry a little bit when he was spending the weekend at Regina's. Were he some rebellious teenage girl he would put his earphones on, angry music blaring from them, nearly deafening him. _See, what she does to you? Bloody woman_ he thought to himself. He reached the captain's quarters and did what pirates do better than anything, even that sorry excuse for a pirate of Disney's Captain Perm-Hook, he drank it off _After all tomorrow is another day... Oh hell, this place is rubbing off on me, I've got to stop stopping by at Emma's and watch movies with her_. With that he took his beloved friend bottle-of-rum and drank himself asleep. Tomorrow he would deal with Emma.

When he opens his eyes the sun has barely risen and he decides it's time to go face her.

He puts on his best shirt and then sets off, he stops at Granny's to buy her breakfast 'cause he's still a gentleman and, well, "bribing", coaxing her with coffee and pie in the morning seems like a perfect thing to do.

He knocks several times before getting an answer "I'm coming... Just a moment" he hears her say and then she opens the door in all her beauty and morning glory.

She's not a morning person, never has been, so the first thing she does while opening the door is grunt.

She never expected to see him standing on the other side _He's so handsome... Stop this train of thought right here missy! _"What are you doing here?" She asks him instead.

His smile disappears "So it's not a habit of yours to kiss every man that knocks on your door? I must say I'm disappointed..."

"Hook, what are you talking about?"

"Back to Hook, are we?"

_Shit _she thinks, she didn't mean that "Sorry" she apologizes "you know I'm not a morning person, and it's damn early... Even for you!"

"That's why I brought coffee. We need to talk" he hands her the paper bag. She peeks inside, thanks him and smiles and his world seems a little bit brighter now _Oh hell, what has she done to me?!_

"Ok, talk" she says while stuffing her mouth with as much pie as she can fit in.

"What's between you and Bae?

"Bae? What are talking about? I don't..."

"Neal... He..."

"I know who you're talking about, I just don't understand what you mean"

"I saw you two yesterday night. Kissing. Passionately"

She almost spits her coffee "How? Why? How?"

"Nonono, I'm the one asking you how, Swan. How can you be so bloody stupid?" Anger reared its head, jealousy too.

"I beg you pardon?"

"Yes you heard me. How can you be so stupid and reckless? He already broke your heart once, you can't afford to have it broken twice... Mind me, your words not mine. So I'm asking you why? You suddenly realized I'm not good enough, that he's better than I could ever be? That he won?"

"Don't you go there, don't you dare! I'm not some prize for you two to fight over. I'm not some damsel in distress for you to win and show off. Just don't or get the fuck out!"

Well he didn't expect that. And he thought bringing food would help his cause. At this point they were both angry at each other so he did the first thing that came to his mind: he stormed out of her apartment, slamming the door as hard as possible.

She was speechless, yes she was the one who told him to go away but she didn't expect him to listen to her. Maybe she didn't really wanted him to go. _Way to go Emma! _Maybe it was better this way, he gave them both time to cool off, and he gave her time to mull it over, to think of a way to explain to him that the kiss didn't mean anything to her. Were Mary Margaret here she'd maybe ask her for some good motherly, or better, friendly advice, after all she still saw her more as her first and only Storybrooke friend, than as her long-lost mother.

_What would Mary Margaret's say? _She thought... And that's how she spent the next few hours, thinking.

After wandering around town without any kind of destination he went back to the Jolly Roger, his anger still there. _Grrrr I hate that woman. _But even while he was going bersek, taking it on his belongins, which were now strewn all over his quarters, he knew this was the fartherst thing from the truth he could ever think of. Still, she made him so angry, how dare she think that? How dare she think that he only saw her as some kind of price to steal from Neal's grasp?! How could he make her understand?

He lost track of time, place and everything else it seemed, because he came back down to earth only when he heard the sound of footsteps coming down the corridor that lead to his chambers. _Now what? Bloo... _Where he talking he would have left his sentence unfinished, because Emma was standing right there, looking at him with her oh-so-beautiful green eyes. _I must be going crazy _he thought to himself _I must be dreaming, or hallucinating._

But he wasn't, she started to walk towards him, taking in the mess he'd made, then turning her gaze back at him.

She was the first to break the silence "I owe you an explanation"

"Bloody hell you do, lass"

"Please, let me talk Killian"

Hearing her saying his name again, his real name, was always a surprise for him. He just kept on his act, ignoring his inner turmoil, faking anger and indifference, just to see what was going on in her mind.

"As I said, I owe you an explanation" she continued "what you saw wasn't something I wanted"

He snorted, he couldn't help it and she just looked at him begging him not to say anything "He kissed me, I didn't asked him to, he did it"

"Well lass, it seemed to me YOU were just as into it as HE was, weren't you?"

"I'd be a liar if I told you I didn't respond at all. But after a while I pushed him away"

"Pfft, you seemed to like it though, you seemed pretty passionate about it, all huggy and touchy all..."

"I told you, I liked it"

_Ouch, that hurt a bit _he thought, he didn't like where this conversation was going. He wanted to make up some witty comeback, he was good at them after all, but all his mind could come up with was a disappointed "_she just told me she liked it...Not good, not good at all"_

"But, I'm not here to talk about the kiss" she went on "I wanna talk to you about WHAT that kiss exposed"

He recognized those words, his words Great! _Now I also have to listen to her quote me to talk about her renewed love_ _for that goodfornothing Crocodile's son... _He wanted to yell, throw things, curse and drink till this new pain in his heart disappeared.

She saw his expression change, something in his eyes, like a light being turned off: He was shutting her out, he was building his walls higher than they had ever been since they met. He shifted his gaze down at his feet and turned away from her, leaning on his hand, on his sturdy desk.

"That was very nice of you to come all the way here to..." he started

"Oh shut up and let me finish!" He did that but he was giving her the cold shoulder, so she touched his arm, right above his hook.

Startled by her sudden and delicate touch where he least expected it, he turned, now half sitted on his desk, but he still didn't meet her eyes.

"What I wanted to say... What I wanted you to know is... Now I know what, no who, I want"

His heart was beating wildly in his chest now, a little bit of blossoming hope giving it more power. He was sure she could hear it, hell, feel it with her hand on his arm, maybe even see it, drumming loudly almost out of his chest.

So was hers, it was nearly escaping out of her ribcage, she was sure he could hear its fast pace.

"Look at me. Killian, please, look at me" she asked him as she put her hand under his chin to make him look at her.

"It's you I want, Killian. You, not Neal, not anybody else. And I'm sorry it took this long for me to get it, that it took a kiss from him and that you had to witness it, and if..."

He kissed her then. Effectively shutting her nonsensical ramblings up.

He didn't deemed it possible, but his heart was now beating even faster. He took her head in his hands -hand and hook to be precise-, gently, as if she were a precious piece of china, even though he knew damn well she was anything but.

Unlike their first kiss, the one they shared in Neverland, this kiss wasn't heated and passionate, it was all about reassurance, it was sweet and kind and loving. At least at first.

After a while she simply couldn't take it anymore, she had to touch him, his skin, his scars, she needed to feel every inch of his body pressed up against hers. And it seemed it was the same thing he wanted, because she soon realized she was being lifted and carried, her legs instinctively closing around him. She didn't care where he was taking her, all she cared about was to have his lips on hers, his toned, muscular torso pressed against hers. Well she would have gone for the desk, her need for him so strong, but he seemed to have other thoughts as she found herself on his bed, with him looking down at her, his stormy blue eyes full of love and lust. She went for his shirt. He stopped her "Luv, are you sure? Are you certain of your choice?"

"I said I want you and I've never been more sure of anything in my entire life"

"Took you long enough then"

He was right, so she spent the entire night making it up to him and to herself, too.

When she woke up in the morning her head was on his chest, their legs were intertwined, and his arms around her, holding her. She didn't peg THE Captain Hook as a cuddler, but he was and she liked it. Opening her eyes he was the first thing she saw, a content smile gracing his heavenly features. Now that they had finally found each other she never wanted to let him go and judging by his grip on her he didn't want to either.


End file.
